NIA court frames charges against 26 in PFI case, calls it juristic

A Delhi court on Friday ordered framing charges against several top leaders of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) outfit, observing that there is “grave suspicion” of a conspiracy to overthrow the Indian Government and establish an Islamic caliphate by 2047.

Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma ordered framing charges under the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against 25 PFI members as well as the organisation. “Considered as a whole, the material on record raises grave suspicion that the accused, acting through and on behalf of the Popular Front of India and its National Executive Council, agreed and acted in furtherance of a single conspiracy — to overthrow the secular democratic Government of India and establish an Islamic caliphate under Sharia law in India by or before the year 2047 through an armed struggle against the State,” the judge said.

Each accused’s role, on the material at face value, fits into one or more limbs of the conspiracy, he added.